Western Michigan Just Got Kool!

The 26th annual Hal Schram Mr. Basketball award was recently announced and the winner was David Kool of Grand Rapids South Christian. David won it by a landslide, beating second-place finisher Tom Herzog of Flint Powers by nearly 600 points. Mr. Kool, as I call him, averaged 30.1 points and nine rebounds this season. He led his team to two Class B State Championships during his Freshman and Junior seasons.

The most interesting fact is that the majority of past Mr. Michigan winners have attended either Michigan State University or The University Of Michigan. David will be attending neither. He will be a Bronco of Western Michigan. Kool is the first player signing with a Mid-American Conference to be named Mr. Basketball.

Kool was recruited by both UM and MSU, but they stopped their efforts when he suffered an a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee last May. Actually all schools stopped their recruiting efforts when David suffered this injury, except one, WMU. Steve Hawkins, WMU Head Coach, never gave up on him, even after the injury.

Normally this injury takes at least eight months to recover from. Three days after the surgery, he was on the court shooting free throws. He shot 50 and made every single shot. After four months, Kool was back on the court to join his team. And ten months after the injury, he was named Mr. Basketball. David was driven to prove something to the schools that believed that this injury would effect his future play. He worked out 5 days a week eight hours a day to get back to playing status. This is a testament to his will and drive to succeed. “It definitely didn't feel very good," Kool said. "It just motivated me more to work harder and prove them wrong, and when I did this it definitely feels very good."

The addition of Kool to the Broncos roster should elevate them to a formidable force in the Mid-American conference. The team finished third in the MAC West standings. The Broncos will also return their leading scorer next season, Joe Reitz.

The top five vote getters were announced in the Mr Basketball award presentation. Kool was first followed by Tom Herzog, then DeShawn Sims. Herzog will attend MSU and Sims will attend the U of M. The complete list is as follows:

David Kool - Grand Rapids South Christian
931 Points
Tom Herzog - Flint Powers
360 Points
DeShawn Sims - Detroit Pershing
329 Points
Johnathon Jones - Okemos
207 Points
Leon Freeman - Belleville
186 Points

Here are the past 25 Winners of the Hal Schram Mr. Basketball award

2005: Wilson Chandler, Benton Harbor (DePaul)

2004: Drew Neitzel, Wyoming Park (Michigan State)

2003: Dion Harris, Detroit Redford (Michigan)

2002: Paul Davis, Rochester (Michigan State)

2001: Kelvin Torbert, Flint Northwestern (Michigan State)

2000: Marcus Taylor, Lansing Waverly (Michigan State)

1999: Jason Richardson, Saginaw Arthur Hill (Michigan State)

1998: Dane Fife, Clarkston (Indiana)

1997: Shane Battier, Birmingham Detroit Country Day (Duke)

1996: Winfred Walton, Detroit Pershing (Syracuse, Fresno State)

1995: Robert Traylor, Detroit Murray-Wright (Michigan)

1994: Willie Mitchell, Detroit Pershing (Michigan, Alabama-Birmingham)

1993: Jon Garavaglia, Southgate Aquinas (Michigan State)

1992: Kenyon Murray, Battle Creek Central (Iowa)

1991: Chris Webber, Birmingham Detroit Country Day (Michigan)

1990: Anthony Miller, Benton Harbor (Michigan State)

1989: Michael Talley, Detroit Cooley (Michigan)

1988: Matt Steigenga, Grand Rapids South Christian (Michigan State)

1987: Mark Macon, Saginaw Buena Vista (Temple)

1986: Terry Mills, Romulus (Michigan)

1985: Glen Rice, Flint Northwestern (Michigan)

1984: Demetreus Gore, Detroit Chadsey (Pittsburgh)

1983: Antoine Joubert, Detroit Southwestern (Michigan)

1982: Robert Henderson, Lansing Eastern (Michigan)

1981: Sam Vincent, Lansing Eastern (Michigan State)

KB Out